What the HELL?? Strachan with a brain cell?

[Gerard]

Just before he fled town yesterday, Pat Quinn let drop this little gem. The Maple Leafs are now engaged in a full-scale youth movement.

Quinn is believed to be a lame-duck general manager. But then again, the way this group operates, he may be announced next week as general manager for life.

Who ever knows what this organization is going to do next -- except raise ticket prices?

As recently as March, the Leafs were stocking up on veteran free agents -- Phil Housley, Doug Gilmour, Owen Nolan, Glen Wesley. This, fans were assured, was the best way to win a Stanley Cup.

But apparently, hockey wisdom has been rewritten during the past three months. Quinn says that this approach is no longer acceptable.

When free agents were hard to acquire, the Leafs wanted all of them. But now that almost every player in the NHL is available, the Leafs will be pursuing neither trades nor free agents. They will develop their own quality players from within, Quinn said.

One might wonder where these quality players are hiding. Obviously, they're not on the team at the moment or the Leafs would have done better than a first-round exit.

In the organization? Not likely. At best, even the most optimistic fan can name perhaps three decent prospects in the Toronto organization.

Should all three develop -- and you can bet your house they won't -- three players don't make a hockey team.

And has no one in this confused and unfocused organization put a somewhat pertinent question to Quinn? To wit, if the Leafs are in a youth movement, why on earth didn't they have a first-round pick in the draft that was held a mere two weeks ago?

Don't expect an answer to that question. There isn't one.

Anyone who thinks the Leafs management is so smart that it can develop quality players -- even with first-round draft picks, let alone without them -- might want to take a close look at the interior of GM Place in Vancouver. If you can't get there, you'll have to accept this observation on faith. The rafters are not threatening to give way under the weight of Stanley Cup banners.

Yet the same people who turned Vancouver into a vast wasteland for hockey talent, Quinn and Mike Penny, are now here proposing to build from within.

Among their first-round picks -- with the overall ranking in parentheses -- were: Alex Stoianov (7); Libor Polasek (21); Josh Holden (12); Shawn Antoski (18); Mike Wilson (20) and Jason Herter (9).

The draft successes were very few, even though, as a result of their dismal on-ice performances under the Quinn regime, the Canucks often had high picks.

They took Trevor Linden second overall, but that year, 1988, the whole world knew that two players -- Linden and Mike Modano -- were far above the rest.

They took Petr Nedved second overall in 1990. Nedved did indeed turn into a respectable player, but so did a few other players Quinn and Penny overlooked in their haste to grab him -- Keith Primeau, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Brodeur, Derian Hatcher and Keith Tkachuk, to name just a few.

In fact, when you look at their drafting record closely, Quinn and Penny made more bad decisions than anyone in this country not wearing a robe and answering to "Your honour."

Yet now, they're apparently going to build the Leafs from within. Right.

It all gets so tiresome after a while. Why don't they just tell the truth?

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., despite the bluster from Ken Dryden and Larry Tanenbaum, has not the slightest intention of digging into its hefty annual profit to improve this team.

DYSFUNCTIONAL

It's just a dysfunctional organization, top to bottom, side to side. It announces that it intends to get a "star" to replace Quinn as GM and, a week later, Quinn announces he might be staying.

This is an organization that is paying Lenny Wilkens $5 million US not to coach basketball and Hakeem Olajuwon $6 million not to play basketball.

Yet it can't afford to shell out $7 million to get both Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne for the hockey team.

That brings us to another question. Do you suppose that Pat Quinn had the slightest idea that Kariya and Selanne were negotiating with the Colorado Avalanche?

Of course not. He was too busy planning the youth movement.

Now, i'm really depressed.

[Leafs_Pam]

OM, IMO, Strachen didn't write that article. He's been looking in again on Leafs forums where the fans don't wear Rose Coloured Glasses. IMO, we the fans gave him the words to write that article.

Al is mostly right but just a tad wrong. Most of what he said was right on. The tad wrong part is the youth.

While I do agree using ALL youth to fill in the areas needed is the wrong thing to do, the Leafs do need to add some youth to the lineup. Look at Detroit and Colorado. They almost always insert some of their youth every season to go along with the High Priced players they buy to go on a serious Cup Run. Quinn hasn't inserted much of our youth in the last 4 years and it's time he did add some of our youth in the lineup.

Quinn said the same thing about Leafs youth in the Off Season before the 1999/2000 season too, that he was going to build from within, and it didn't work. Since it didn't work then, I don't see it working this time either. Filling those spots entirely with youth won't make them a Cup Contender. The youth needs time to build to that point. We need that point now not 3 years from now. Yes add some youth, but also add a couple of good seasoned Defensemen too or we can forget about a Cup run next Spring.

[Gerard]

Here's hoping that Q doesn't fulfull (sp) things this time around just to back up his non-UFA statements. Inserting youth should always be a good, and wise, move but only when done in moderation and when using logic. I don't see Quinn has being able to change his team-building strategy so easily. This is a guy who survived due to the stock-pile of veterans. Needless to say i'm skeptical at this turn/attitudes.

[Leafs_Pam]

Exactly the way I feel, OM.

[Mike]

Wow... Strachan wrote this??

IMO he has some good points and I'm really glad that I'm not the only one noticing these small little things as newscasters, journalists, hockey analysts, forum users, and even Al Strachan have all the same kind of idea on this team.

They spent all of last year coming in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place in player sweepstakes all because they weren't willing to go the extra mile and spend extra money. Mind you the players were probably better off not becoming Maple Leafs, but then after failing to get any "big" names ticket prices still rose. And even though ticket prices really don't affect me, it is disturbing to think how much money the owners are getting off the suits who pay the big bucks for the good seats, and how much they are getting off Joe Schmoe sitting up in the nosebleeds after months of waiting to get a ticket. To top that off they aren't even that high on the salary list. Detroit, New York, Colorado, St. Louis and I think Philly too are several team ahead of the Leafs in payroll and even though I've never bought a ticket in their arenas, I'll bet most of them don't charge as much as the Leafs do. It pisses me off to think that Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary along with several small market american teams, NEED the money to survive in the league, while being forced to watch as teams like Colorado and Detroit load up on superstars while they just beg that a third or fourth liner can become available from one of those teams. Yet the Leafs with an almost unlimited supply of revenue streams still continue to worry about the almighty dollar rather then the folks putting off their kids' college funds for a while(not literally but you get the idea) to attend a few games every couple of years.

Now anyone can just say, well why don't you find another team to cheer for? But in all honesty, once you have commited to a team it is very, very hard no matter what the situation to just one day move on and go for another team. The fans aren't to blame because their hooked and unlike drugs, there is no rehab for an addicted hockey fan. It's the owners who exploit the fans' emotions and pride to make themselves live a better life through more money. Although some owners passionately care for the teams' success the Leafs' owners could careless whether the Leafs finish with a cup or in last place, why? Because at the end of the day, they still bring in all that revenue and laugh their way to the banks.

Enough about the ownership, as even though they probably have set an unbreakable budget it's the idiocy of our personnel that is once again disappointing fans in the summer by not doing anything major to improve the team(Hell, this year not even doing anything minor). Pat Quinn has lost the brass and is back to the marshmallow(last time I promise) and it seems to me he is clueless about where to go now. He had better have 100% no say in who becomes the new GM because who in the world gets to pick who their boss is going to be?

I'm being very pessismistic but I believe that it is justified as it will be another year without a cup(barring an act of God) and once again we'll be back to square one. It dosen't seem to be changing anytime soon, so we as Leaf fans will need to wait for an Saviour to appear and save this team from failure time and time and time again.

Well, that's my rant, good thing I typed this cause if I spoke it aloud, I'd probably have already lost my voice.

Insider

[Mike]

Just a little add on to my comment, I was browsing the net and found a great article by Damien Cox of the Toronto Star. It pretty much adds to the list of uncertainties with this team:

Aware that lame-duck Maple Leaf GM Pat Quinn was wondering and worrying over the nature of this summer's free-agent market, the league's more successful teams went out and decisively set it for him.

He probably should send them a thank-you note.

Sadly for Quinn and ever-hopeful Leaf fans, of course, the market parameters may now be in place but the big dogs have already taken a huge bite.

Rats. And with Larry Tanenbaum probably hoping that his third day as emperor of MLSE would be more triumphant than utterly embarrassing.

One day after Quinn said the Leafs wouldn't be signing any big-name free agents because they had no earthly clue how the industry was going to operate in July and August, both the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings made it clear they weren't planning to wait for the market to come to them.

For the incredibly small price of $7 million (all figures U.S.), less than the salary paid to retired goalie Patrick Roy last season, the Avs added high-octane attackers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne to a lineup that already includes Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk.

That Kariya was willing to play for the relatively tiny salary of $1.2 million for his own special reasons — friendship with Selanne, free agency again after this season — made it a unique opportunity for Avs GM Pierre Lacroix, who now has added flexibility as he searches for a new goalie.

The Leafs, in the unlikely event they were aware of the discount bargain, would have needed a few weeks to mull it over.

The Avs just pounced. It could be this fixation with championships that make them act that way.

Simultaneously, the Detroit Red Wings inked defenceman Derian Hatcher.

He got a five-year contract worth an estimated $30 million, a figure somewhat less than the estimated $7 million per season he had been looking for from Dallas and well below the salaries of top rearguards like Rob Blake, Chris Pronger and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Apparently, neither the Avs nor the Wings are as concerned about the implications of the post-2004 economic order as the Leafs, who despite their outrageous wealth are more focused on their 2007 celebrations for the 40th anniversary of their last Stanley Cup.

That the Leafs were caught punching the snooze button was just more evidence that having Quinn run the show indefinitely while a committee searches for a new GM has the potential to leave the club poorly positioned for the coming season.

Richard Peddie made it clear last week that change was necessary because the team's recent results just weren't good enough.

Say, like those of the past 36 years?

Yet that change isn't so important that the guy who's on his way out shouldn't be allowed to continue running the club indefinitely.

And this apparently makes sense to somebody.

The Leafs were clearly lulled into a false sense of complacency when the market was quiet for two days, clinging to their usual mantra of budget-before-Cups and assuming that some of the moves made by other NHL clubs over the past week meant everybody had agreed to collude, er, cut costs this summer.

Not the Wings and Avs. They have a championship in mind for next season.

The Leafs? Ask them and they'll tell you all about their glorious run to the conference final two years ago.

It's not just that Kariya, Selanne and Hatcher all signed, and that Columbus aggressively jumped into the market with a $14.5 million, five-year deal for speedy Todd Marchant.

After all, the Leafs have missed out on the odd free agent before.

More interesting is that Kariya and Selanne both signed for significantly less than they made last year, Kariya in particular, while Hatcher and Marchant were acquired for lower salaries than they likely would have received in recent years.

These were solid business opportunities.

Speculation, meanwhile, suggests that Sergei Fedorov may be close to an $8 million-a-year contract with Anaheim, 20 per cent less than the figure he turned down from Detroit in recent months.

Out of Kariya, Selanne, Hatcher and Marchant, only Marchant, a good checker with some offensive potential, will arguably be overpaid under the terms of his new deal.

The Leafs, meanwhile, could have used the savings from the roster deletions of Shayne Corson and Robert Svehla alone ($6.5 million) to pay Hatcher and bolster a weak defence with an elite rearguard.

As it stands, they've lopped Corson, Svehla, Glen Wesley, Jonas Hoglund, Jyrki Lumme, Phil Housley, Doug Gilmour and Anders Eriksson off the payroll from last season.

Oh yeah, and raised ticket prices coming off their first-round playoff ouster at the hands of Philadelphia.

And not a dime yet spent on enhancing the roster.

Even if the Leafs do lurch into action now, they'll be viewed as desperate buyers, rather than keen ones.

But look on the bright side, Leaf fans. Nobody else has a GM search committee going.

The Leafs have that market all to themselves.

[NorthernDancer]

Please fans in Leafland, be disappointed, be mad, do some venting but please, please don't jump on the bandwagon of Cox, Strachan and Simmons. They are three of the biggest clowns in journalism, especially Cox.

And for the record, Colorado and Lacroix were NOT genius's on the Karia/Selanne double whammy. The agent called Colarado with the entire deal, salaries and all, it was Karia's idea top to bottom. The only smart thing Lacroix did was say "done" before anyone changed thier mind.

And also for the record I think it was obvious to Dallas and others in the know that Hatcher was going to Detroit all along.

Cox, Simmons and Strachan are wrong !!!!!!!!!!!

[Gerard]

ND, i'm not jumping on the band-wagon but it is scary that they are writing about things that many Leaf fans have been writhing over for ages. I'm sure 'tomorrow' they'll write stuff to make me shake my head but, for today, they've hit the nail/head. I guess the apocalypse is here. And his name is Pat Quinn.

[IWD]

I thought the article started off well, but as soon as he starting preaching about a lack of quality prospects in the Leaf system I remembered why I take everything he says with a grain of salt.

I don't even feel like commenting on it since everyone, with the exception of him apparently, knows better.

[Rusty]

IWD said:

I don't even feel like commenting on it since everyone, with the exception of him apparently, knows better.

Ahhh but you just did, and I am not going to comment on the continual drivle that Straightjacket keeps regurgitating, it seems to me that he is probably pi$$ed at the Leafs because they did not change is bib at the last surf and turf they put on in the pressbox....

[Leafs_Pam]

ND, don't worry. I take 99% of what Cox and Strachan write about with a grain of salt.